Country lanes and public transport

I started today with a 55 minute walk down country lanes to catch the 0700 bus to Swindon and thence the 0815 to Cardiff for a 1000 meeting. 3.4 miles according to Google so a pretty good Naismith given that I was waring smart rather than walking shoes not to mention carrying Myfanwy and associated kit in a briefcase not a rucksac. Now Swindon is a 25 minute drive from my house to the station but that would have involved waking up daughter (who is working too hard anyway to save up for her Australian trip) or wife (don’t go there), so the walk was the option with the least grief attached. Having done it I think I will do it again, aside from the exercise you forget the delights of early morning in WIlthsire. The air was fresh, the bluebells are just coming out and the lanes still had some mayflower left with multiple hedgerow flowers and birds. The view to my left was the flood plane of the River Kennet with a wonderful mixture of deciduous trees flanking the river banks. To my right the shadow of the West Woods dominated the horizon (remember that description of the Wild Wood in Wind in the Willows). Now if I had driven to Cardiff I would have left the house at 0800 and had a traffic laden rush hour journey, a lift to Swindon would have meant leaving at around 0715, the walk meant leaving at 0545. However the combination of a good walk, time to read in the bus and email catchup on the train was a lot more relaxing